


Gentle Whispering

by MistressNobody (mauzymorn)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: ASMR, ASMR!Stiles, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Panic Attacks, Past Kate Argent/Derek Hale, brief discussion of consent and age of consent laws, but only a little angst, mild depiction of a panic attack, obligatory Kate Argent Warning, so its really minor, though she's not even mentioned by name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-28
Updated: 2013-10-28
Packaged: 2017-12-30 18:50:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1022181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mauzymorn/pseuds/MistressNobody
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek accidentally stumbles onto something he never knew about Stiles before. But he has just one question: what the hell is ASMR? </p>
<p>And why can't Derek stop watching Stiles when he finds out?</p>
<p>---------------------<br/>We're gonna place this as somewhere near the end of Season 2, where everyone is alive and one big pack and Derek is an Alpha and everyone is happy. Because I can't take the depression anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gentle Whispering

**Author's Note:**

> Hi y'all! I'd noticed a real lack of fanfic that included the topic of ASMR, and thought that I'd try my hand at a little piece that includes it. I'll put a link in the end notes for any of those who want more information on ASMR and what it is. 
> 
> Quick note: the experiences that I depict of both ASMR as well as Stiles' brief panic attack are both shown in the way that I personally experience these things. Everyone has different experiences when it comes to these topics, so keep that in mind. Also, I am in no way suggesting that you try using ASMR techniques for halting a panic attack, it was merely convenient for my storyline. To be honest, when I'm in the middle of a panic attack, I usually don't want to be touched at all.
> 
> Last but not least: this story is titled after my all-time favourite ASMRtist, Maria. She goes by the username on YouTube of GentleWhispering, and is an absolute angel. I'll put a link to her channel in the end notes as well. 
> 
> Enjoy your fluff!

It began as a mistake, of sorts.

Derek had swung by the Stilinski house with the intention of threatening the kid into doing a bit of research for him – though, if he were being honest, the ‘threatening’ hadn’t entirely been necessary in recent days – and had swung his way up to Stiles’ bedroom window in order to avoid the Sheriff that was stationed at the TV in the living room below.

Derek felt a little more comfortable coming to Stiles when he needed something, after everything that had happened with Jackson’s turn from vengeful-lizard-demon to proper werewolf Beta. He had to admit, it was hard to keep the kid in the box of ‘untrustworthy weak human’ that Derek had always subconsciously placed him after that night at the high school’s pool; seeing Stiles struggle to keep them both afloat, feeling his heartbeat pumping in exertion against Derek’s back, the fact that not only did Stiles come back for him when he said he would, but also the idiot almost drowning himself through his refusal to let Derek go…

It had been a very long time since anyone had put quite so much effort in keeping Derek alive when it was of no benefit to them. He was maybe having a hard time getting that out of his head.

He hadn’t thought twice about levering himself through Stiles’ unlocked window – after all, the kid had to have heard the soft thumps of Derek landing on the short roof outside by now. It became pretty clear, however, that Stiles had in fact not heard him coming, judging by the large headphones over his ears and the video on the computer that he seemed to be engrossed in.

Stealing a quick glance at the computer screen, Derek swore that if he caught even the _slightest_ flash of naked skin he was out of there. Instead, the screen was filled with a pretty blonde girl – fully dressed, thank God – who seemed to be doing nothing else but tapping her nails on the back of a wooden hairbrush and talking to the camera. Slightly confused, he turned his eyes to Stiles instead.

He seemed to be completely absorbed by whatever it was that the girl was doing; his hands were completely motionless on the top of his desk (Derek had never seen his hands so still before), and his eyes looked heavy-lidded. Derek’s enhanced vision could detect what seemed like little shivers tracing their way across the boy’s skin, but his heartbeat was a slow and steady thumping in his chest – it seemed almost contradictory; Stiles’ heartbeat had always been jackrabbit fast, a direct result of the effects of his medication, his own twitchy nature, and the dire circumstances they usually found themselves in.

While he was trying to puzzle it out, Stiles apparently suddenly noticed that he wasn’t alone in the room anymore. Once he caught sight of Derek, the flail he let loose simultaneously threw the headphones off of him, slammed the lid of his laptop shut, and almost had him tumbling out of his desk chair. The calm pace that his heartbeat had been at was suddenly disrupted and back to its usual rapid flutter. _Why am I so familiar with his heartbeat?_ Derek pushed the thought off as Stiles’ voice cut through the still air.

“It’s not what you’re thinking!” He squeaked out in a slightly hushed tone, obviously aware that his father was downstairs. Derek raised a brow, but kept silent. “It’s not porn, it’s ASMR.” The boy’s voice had a hint of defiance, but also embarrassment to it. Derek decided to let it drop; he was here on actual important business after all.

“I need you to look something up.” He grumbled, and watched as Stiles rolled his eyes. It seemed the status quo was back again.

* * *

 

The thing was, it had caught his attention.

_It’s not porn, it’s ASMR_. What the hell was ‘ASMR’? Obviously his usual method of researching things was out, so that’s how Derek found himself trudging through the Public Library’s doors and heading for an open computer at the station. Contrary to _some people’s_ belief, he did know how to work a goddamn computer. Opening up the internet browser, he ran a simple search on the acronym and was a bit surprised over just how many links came up in the search results. Clicking on the Wikipedia one, he figured a general definition would be a good place to start.

“Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response…” He mumbled to himself, as his eyes skimmed over the wealth of information in front of him. Parsing his way through clinical language, Derek learned that ‘ASMR’ referred to a tingling sensation in the brain or scalp that some people would feel with certain triggers. Apparently, only a percentage of the population were capable of feeling the ‘tingles’, and he found himself thinking back through his life, wondering if he had ever felt something like what the articles he was reading described. He didn’t think he ever had.

In one article he caught mention that there was a whole community of people on YouTube who made videos with sights and noises specifically created in order to trigger ‘tingles’. Curious, he clicked over to the video-hosting site and typed in a general ‘ASMR’ to see what would come up. One of the first videos to pop up seemed to feature the same blonde girl that Stiles had been watching that night. He clicked on her username, and was pretty surprised by just how many videos she had posted. He skimmed through the titles of her videos, some of them sounding a little strange to him, but hey whatever works. He couldn’t play any of the videos since he was at the Library and had no headphones with him, but he couldn’t deny that his curiosity had only grown with the knowledge he gained.

Logging off his session and leaving the Library, Derek decided that he was just going to be an adult and shrug it off. It wasn’t important… right?

* * *

 

The thing was… he found himself watching Stiles more and more.

The Pack had always joked around about Derek and his ‘creepy staring’, so he didn’t think that any of the others had really noticed, but it was like he just couldn’t help himself. He began to see the way that Stiles’ eyelids would flutter – just slightly – when one of the girls would tap their nails against a hard surface in impatience or boredom. The way that a shiver would trace itself over his skin if someone spoke closely and quietly next to one of his ears – it didn’t appear to be a sexual thing; there was no hint of arousal or lust in his scent when it happened, just little shivers racing across him quick as a flash. He noticed the way that Stiles’ heartbeat temporarily slowed to the same calm thumping as that first night on the one occasion when Allison absentmindedly scratched her nails through his hair and over his scalp on her way by him to the kitchen of the loft.

It intrigued him. Derek didn’t really like to admit it – even to himself – but there it was anyway. He was sitting in Stiles’ room one night, waiting for some research from the boy, when he caught sight of the clunky headphones sitting on the edge of the desk. The words escaped his mouth before Derek had even really thought them through.

“Will you show me?” He asked quietly, Stiles’ fingers halting their tapping on the keyboard instantly. He turned toward Derek, brows scrunched in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Will you show me… that?” Derek repeated, motioning toward the headphones. Stiles’ eyes followed the movement, his entire body stilling as he put two-and-two together. It was more fascinating than it should have been to watch the blush sweep across freckled cheeks and down his throat. Stiles swallowed heavily and narrowed his eyes in what seemed to be suspicion.

“Why? Are you gonna make fun of me?” He asked, that same hint of defiance and embarrassment as that first night colouring his voice.

“Why would I make fun of you?” Derek returned, genuinely not understanding why Stiles was being so defensive about it.

“Because it makes me weird, right?” His voice was smaller, with an inflection to it that Derek decided he didn’t like.

“I don’t think it’s weird,” He said, watching as Stiles’ eyes widened a bit in surprise. “I’m curious.” Stiles studied his face for an extra moment, apparently checking to see if he was serious or not.

“…Okay.” He finally agreed. Picking up his headphones and holding them out to Derek, he opened up a new tab on his web browser and went to a bookmarked site. “I’ll show you Maria, she’s my favourite ASMRtist.”

“Your favourite _what_?”

“ASMRtist. It’s what most people in the community call the people that make ASMR videos for us.” He explained, still with a hint of embarrassment colouring his voice. Derek was determined to be as non-judgmental as possible, just so that Stiles wouldn’t feel like it was something he needed to be embarrassed about.

“That’s… actually sort of clever.” He responded, and was rewarded with a quick flash of a smile from the boy.

“Here, this one’s one of her best videos. Put on the headphones and watch the screen, okay?” Stiles said, while angling the computer to be facing Derek more directly. He fit the headphones snugly over his ears, and settled back to watch the fifteen minute video. It was… interesting. Derek never felt any ‘tingles’ or anything similar, so he supposed that maybe he was in that percentage that just didn’t experience them, but the woman’s quiet and soothing voice was definitely pleasant to listen to. To be honest, it almost put Derek to sleep, which was apparently another purpose for ASMR videos. He found it interesting how the sounds moved from ear to ear, and it certainly created the effect that the girl was right there with you. When the video was over, Derek removed the headphones and looked over at Stiles’ expectant face.

“It was… nice.” He said, a bit at a loss for how to describe it. He could smell a hint of disappointment enter into Stiles’ scent, and he supposed the maybe the boy had been hoping for someone to share this with.

“You didn’t get tingles?” He asked, and Derek shook his head.

“No, but I don’t think I really can.” He replied, hoping to put Stiles at ease. For some reason he didn’t want Stiles to think that he hadn’t liked it. “It was nice to listen to though. Made me sleepy.” There was that quick flash of a smile from the younger boy again.

“Yeah. I have audio recordings of some of her videos; I listen to them at night if I… have trouble sleeping.” Derek noticed the hesitation. _If I have nightmares_ , was what Stiles had really meant, he assumed. Derek set the headphones back down on the edge of the desk as Stiles turned the computer back toward himself, bringing back up the interrupted research. It struck Derek then, for no apparent reason, just how lonely Stiles seemed. Despite the fact that the Pack had finally begun to come together as a functioning group, Derek was beginning to see how out of place the human must feel. He’d caught a few times the kind of self-deprecating comments that Stiles would make about his ‘uselessness’ to the Pack, and where the others usually laughed the comments off as a joke, Derek was beginning to see that they were no joke to Stiles himself. _I’m the Alpha… It’s my job to fix this_ , he told himself.

And if it had the side benefit of Derek getting to see Stiles smile more… Well, that was his business and no one else’s.

* * *

 

It went from an abstract thing to _touching_ pretty damn quickly, and Derek still wasn’t entirely sure just how that had happened.

One minute the Pack was fighting off a truly horrifying Chimera, the next a new hell of a more personal kind had broken loose. Derek had just thrown off the now lifeless body of the monster when Stiles’ laboured breaths and worryingly erratic heartbeat met his ears.

“Stiles!” Scott called, hovering a few feet away from where the human was huddled around himself on the ground. “Stiles, come on! Breathe!” The air of the clearing around them began to choke with the smell of the Pack’s own rising panic while they watched Stiles struggle to pull in breath.

“What’s happened?” Derek barked out while stomping his way over to the struggling ball of teenager, thinking at first that he had been injured far more severely than they had thought when he’d been tossed aside by a swipe of the Chimera.

“I think he’s having a panic attack.” Lydia stated quietly, a quiver to her usually firm voice. Derek didn’t know how to deal with a panic attack, but the sound of Stiles’ heart racing even more dangerously faster gave him an idea. The calm and steady beat of Stiles’ heart when watching his videos came into Derek’s mind, and he figured _why the hell not?_

Settling himself behind Stiles on the ground, he gripped the curled teenager by the shoulders and forced him to straighten his back up against Derek’s chest. Locking around him tightly to keep him from pulling away, Derek decided he’d start with words. Instead of shouting his name as Scott had been doing, he put his mouth right beside Stiles’ ear and spoke in a hushed and – hopefully – soothing tone.

“Stiles…” He breathed quietly, and just barely caught a small hitch in the boy’s labouring breath. “Stiles, I need you to try and calm down and breathe, alright?” He kept his voice level and low, trying to imitate what he’d seen them use in Stiles’ videos. He continued the soft and even speaking as he brought his right hand up to Stiles’ hair, scratching blunt nails lightly across his scalp and continuing the motion, over and over. As Stiles’ muscles slowly unclenched and his breathing evened out slightly, Derek dug the boy’s phone out of his pocket with his left hand and pressed it against Stiles’ sternum, extending his claws slightly and tapping them against the hard shell of the phone in a light rhythm. Derek listened as the frantic heartbeat slowed gradually until it was the calm thumping that Derek knew it could be, and Stiles’ head slumped more firmly against his shoulder as his muscles completely unlocked at last.

“That’s good, Stiles.” He murmured quietly. “Good boy. Just breathe with me, okay?” Werewolf hearing being what it was, Derek was sure that the majority of the Pack currently gaping at them could hear everything he was saying, but he didn’t really give a fuck right at that moment. He kept up the murmuring, head scratching and tapping against the phone until he felt Stiles drop off into sleep from his exhaustion. “Let’s head back to the loft.” He said to the Pack quietly, lifting the sleeping teen with werewolf ease and carrying him back towards where they had stashed the cars.

His heart felt like it was being squeezed inside of his chest, and it was painful. It was a feeling that Derek hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Sometime later, Derek watched as Stiles jerked awake, glancing around him frantically. He approached his bed where Stiles had been resting, stepping carefully over the various Pack members that were strewn across his floor in sleep. _I’m really going to need a bigger place soon_ , he thought ruefully. Derek made sure he put just enough noise into his steps that Stiles would hear him coming and wouldn’t startle. The boy looked up as Derek reached him, eyes wide and a little bit vulnerable in the darkness.

“Here. Have some water.” Derek said a little gruffly, unsure of how to act after everything that had happened that day. Stiles took the glass to have a small sip, his eyes darting around to each of his Pack members.

“They’re gonna treat me totally different, aren’t they.” It wasn’t really a question, and Derek frowned, trying to think of how to word his response. Before he could speak, Stiles continued in a voice so small that even enhanced werewolf hearing could barely pick it up. “I really am just the useless human.”

“You’re not.” Derek’s voice was firm, with so much conviction that he even surprised himself. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he tried to keep all traces of anger out of his tone. “You’re not useless, Stiles. We need you a hell of a lot more than you realize.”

“Yeah?” He asked quietly, as Scott shuffled around in his sleep a few feet away.

“Yeah.” Derek agreed. Swallowing heavily, Stiles set the glass of water down on the floor and slid back down to a laying position.

“Hey, Derek?”

“What, Stiles.” He responded, rubbing his fingers across tired eyes as he walked around to the unoccupied side of his bed with every intention of laying down. _It’s my own damn bed. I can share it if I want_.

“Is it okay if I sleep here?”

“Of course it is, idiot. I wouldn’t have put you there otherwise.” Stiles shifted the blankets a bit higher on his shoulder, while Derek settled down on top of them on the other side of the bed. A quiet shuffling sound caught his attention, and in the dark he could see Stiles shyly nudge his phone onto the pillow beside his head, a sort of… hopeful look on his face. Hiding his smile, Derek reached over and began lightly tapping unsheathed claws against the hard plastic, not stopping until the boy’s breaths had evened out in sleep once more.

The fact that they woke up with _all_ of the Pack taking up every square inch of space around them on the bed only seemed to improve Stiles’ mood when the morning came.

* * *

 

The thing was, the touching never stopped after that day.

Sometimes Stiles would put on his headphones and watch an ASMR video – usually one of Maria’s – while Derek ran his fingers through his ever-growing hair and traced the shivers that raced across his skin. Sometimes when Derek’s dreams were particularly full of smoke and ash he would find himself climbing into Stiles’ window in the dead of night, settling on top of the blankets and falling asleep to the soothing words coming from Stiles’ headphones in his ears and the feeling of the teen’s hands lightly rubbing across his back.

The touching never stopped, but it also never went anywhere either. That was Derek’s choice; he knew damn well the age of consent in California was eighteen, and he refused to cross that line. He refused to be like _her_.

It was a thing that had gone unspoken between the two of them – not because Derek was avoiding the conversation, but because Stiles had made it clear that he understood without Derek ever actually having to say a word. He appreciated that much more than the boy would ever know. He’d overheard Stiles and Scott talking one time; he’d come over to ask Stiles a question but had been about to leave upon realizing he wasn’t alone. He hadn’t _meant_ to eavesdrop, he’d just sort of stilled upon hearing his own name.

“Dude, that’s _got_ to be frustrating for you.” Scott had said. “Like, you two act like a couple, you realize that right? Only there’s no kissing or sex.” Derek almost – _almost_ – wanted to laugh over the look of disgust on Scott’s face when associating the word ‘sex’ with his Alpha, but he held quiet. Stiles shrugged a little, but didn’t seem that bothered.

“So what, dude? I’m underage, that’s his line. What’s the big deal?” He responded easily. Scott had only rolled his eyes.

“Not even _kissing_? Come on, man. That just seems a little weird.” Stiles only shook his head, a small bit of a smile twitching at the corner of his lips.

“It’s weird to you that the twenty-six year old _man_ doesn’t want to get caught kissing the underage son of the _Sheriff_. Really, Scott?” He said with some amusement. Scott’s face scrunched up in thought for a minute.

“Well, if you put it _that_ way…” Derek’s second in command rolled his eyes, a thought seeming to suddenly occur to him. “But don’t you worry sometimes?”

“Worry about what?”

“That maybe he’s not as into you as you are to him? Because he doesn’t want to do stuff?” Derek found himself holding his breath for Stiles’ answer.

“Doesn’t everybody worry about that sometimes?” He responded, and Derek’s chest squeezed painfully. “But – despite what our previous attempts to get him arrested for murder might say – Derek’s a good guy. I trust that if he did feel that way, he’d say something to me about it. I’m not gonna try to force him into something he’s not ready for just because I’m feeling insecure. That’s not how it’s supposed to go, bro.”

“Dude, you are way more grown-up than I think you are sometimes.” Stiles let out a laugh at that, and clapped a hand on Scott’s shoulder.

“Don’t let the Batman boxers fool you, Scotty Boy.”

Stiles had laughed for a week when he found out that Derek had gone to have a talk with his father. There were many jokes about _gallantry_ and _old-fashioned courting_ and _asking his father’s permission_ , until Derek stole his headphones and refused to give them back until he stopped.

“Not cool, dude!” Stiles hissed, hugging the newly returned headphones to his chest as if they were a precious child.

“For God’s sake, Stiles, cut the boy some slack.” The Sheriff said as he passed the two of them on his way to the living room. Needless to say, after their ‘talk’ the Sheriff had stated that he was sure Derek understood that he would prefer for any visits with Stiles to be somewhat supervised, though he did appreciate Derek’s being up-front with him about everything. Derek had told him that of course he understood, and hadn’t expected any different. Stiles had asked him one night when the Pack was sleeping over at the loft why Derek had told his father at all.

“Because I wanted you to know that… it wasn’t just you. And…” Derek swallowed heavily, turning his eyes downward, unable to resist the urge to look away. “And... If someone had known, back then. If I had told someone about… _her_. I should have told someone, so that they could have kept an eye on us.” Stiles’ cold fingers brushed under his chin, encouraging him to look back up.

“You’re not like her, Derek.” He said quietly, seriously.

“I know. I know I’m not… But there’s a reason why the law is the way it is. It’s too easy for someone older to take advantage, to lie. If someone else is keeping an eye on things, then it’s a kind of protection, y’know?” Stiles suddenly wrapped him in a hug, clinging tightly to his shirt at his back.

“Thanks.” He said quietly, his heartbeat betraying no lie. “Thanks for caring that much.”

* * *

 

It began as a sort of accident, but what it resulted in was something completely their own.

Stiles and Derek were laying in bed, breathing finally calm and the sweat almost dry upon their skin. Derek’s advanced hearing came in especially handy during times like this.

“I hear the pitter-patter of little feet.” He murmured next to Stiles’ ear, simultaneously causing a shiver to chase across his skin while he also let out a deep groan. Chuckling under his breath, Derek hurriedly slipped on a pair of underwear while tossing another at Stiles. The fabric had just snapped into place as their bedroom door swung open a crack and a little voice whispered to them.

“Daddy? Papa?”

“Bad dream, baby?” Derek asked, scooping their little princess up as Laura came further into the room. She nodded her head ‘yes’ against his shoulder while he brought her over to the bed, depositing her into Stiles’ waiting arms. Derek climbed back into the bed so that Laura was safe and snug between them, rubbing her back lightly while Stiles ran his fingers gently through her hair.

“I like it when you do that, Daddy.” She said to him sleepily. “It makes my head all tingly.”

The soft smile that Stiles gave him over her head said it all.

* * *

 

_**The End.** _

**Author's Note:**

> For more information on what ASMR is, go [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_sensory_meridian_response).
> 
> [Maria's YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/user/GentleWhispering?feature=watch) channel for ASMR videos.


End file.
